It’s less than two months until the release of Walt Disney’s latest animated feature Frozen! Earlier this week we already got a theatrical trailer, but the trailer mainly focused on Anna and Kristoff and we only got a quick look on the suspects who potentially could be the villain of Frozen. Is it Elsa, The Duke of Weselton, Hans, Kristoff or Oaken?

So before we knew anything about Frozen, people started saying that Elsa was the villain in this story, but then we got the first-look character images, and everyone imminently thought The Duke was the villain of this story. Not too long later everyone went nuts on IMDB with the message that Hans was the villain, but Frozen director Jennifer Lee told us to not believe it. Then again, there is Kristoff and Oaken, who we don’t know that much about. 5 villains are too much, so let’s analyze who could be the real Frozen villain.

I haven’t read the spoilers about the villain, so this post just contains my opinions speculation. So let’s begin!

NOTE: Contains a few plot SPOILERS about the beginning of the film. Also don’t read this post if you don’t want to read speculations about the plot and villain.

Elsa

As we all know Elsa is born with the magical power to control snow and ice. It never was her intention to hurt people, but it did happen. She gets locked from the outside world until her coronation until she becomes queen, but unfortunately everyone discovers her powers at the coronation and they think she a witch. She runs away from the palace, turning the kingdom in an internal winter.

We don’t know her intentions for cursing Arendelle with never-ending winter. Was it because people called her a monster, something broke inside of her after that and she wanted revenge? Or was it the result of a frozen broken heart? Or has Elsa decided to embrace her powers and turned to the dark side?

The Duke of Weselton

We don’t know much about The Duke, the only thing we know is that he is the first one to come close to the queen, but when he discovers her secret he is the first one to call her a monster and to try to turn the whole kingdom against her.

I don’t like this guy, and probably no one does, but just because he’s despicable does that make him the villain? Will he try to kill Elsa and become king of Arendelle? He won’t try to kill Elsa, and he doesn’t want to become the king of Arendelle? I have the feeling The Duke never planned to take over Arendelle, but he just can’t accept Elsa’s snow powers. So is he the real villain?

Oaken

Oaken is the owner of the Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Sauna. He seems friendly enough on the inside but according to his official character description, “though he’s good-natured and helpful, if you cross him, Oaken won’t hesitate to throw you out of his humble establishment.” We haven’t seen much of him, making us wonder if he’s being concealed for a reason. What could be his motives? And what would he actually do to harm the kingdom of Arendelle?

Hans

So when people started saying Hans was the villain of Frozen I really didn’t understand it anymore. Everyone thought Hans was the nice prince (even the trailer calls him the “nice guy”) with whom Anna falls in love. He can’t be the villain, right?

Or does he fall in love with Anna to take over Arendelle? He is the youngest in his family and he has 12 older brothers. I would understand if he wants some power, but it’s really abusive of him to make Anna think he’s in love with her, only to take over Arendelle. Also, I shouldn’t forget to mention that Hans can be seen in the trailer in front of Elsa’s palace (1:33) fighting Marshmallow. What did he get there? Searching for Anna or …Elsa?

Kristoff

Kristoff is the ice-harvesting mountain man whose business is ruined because of Elsa’s eternal winter tirade. There hasn’t been much speculation about him and he does come off completely unassuming. It wouldn’t be the first time a Disney helper hero really turns out to be the bad guy. We don’t know his true reasons for helping Anna. Is it to do her a favor? Or is he using her to find Elsa to get revenge?

No Villain

There is the possibility that there’s no villain at all. This story could be completely about just saving Elsa (if she’s good) and helping her come back to Arendelle. Helping Elsa overcome her struggles and the journey it takes to get there. There are a few Disney animated films that don’t have traditional villains (e.g. Dumbo, Bambi, Sword in the Stone, A Goofy Movie) and it would be an interesting deviation from the norm. Disney villains are expected, so why not give the audience the unexpected?

Maybe the closest thing we come to a villain are these wolves.

So who is the real villain in Frozen? Elsa, The Duke of Weselton, Oak, Kristoff or Hans? Or do you think someone else is the villain in this film? Olaf, perhaps? Or is there no real villain in Frozen? With Tangled we knew already before its release that Mother Gothel was the real villain, or has Frozen follow the the same pattern of a villain mystery as in Wreck-it Ralph?

Who do you think is the real villain in Frozen? Or do you think they are all misunderstood?

Please don’t comment with the answer if you have seen or read any Frozen spoilers, thank you. All comments will be moderated and deleted if they reveal spoilers.

About Max

Max is an animation addict from The Netherlands. His favorite animated movies are Beauty and the Beast and Ratatouille, and he is a big fan of everything Disney, Pixar or DreamWorks related. He loves reading and collecting art books and one day he hopes to work for a major animation studio. Follow his art blog: http://maxdenhartog.tumblr.com

I think Elsa is not the villain of Frozen, there definitely will be a part where she is
evil, but deep inside she is good. With the Duke, I don’t know he could be a
villain but not on purpose. And Hans, the only thing why I think he could be
the villain is the fact that he is at Elsa’s palace in the trailer.

Oh my gosh! That was the exact image I was thinking with the scary eyebrows and everything. Haha.

Brandon Kelly

I knew that snowman we a deceiver hehe

Brianna

The Duke definitely comes across as the most “villainous” to me. Just the way he says the word “sorcery” in the trailer really gets to me. I can definitely see why Hans could possibly come off as a bad guy – he’s TOO perfect. But maybe he really just is a really nice guy? I mean, Disney is selling dolls of him making me think he really is just a good guy. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the film ends with a double marriage situation – Anna with Kristoff and Elsa with Hans. Anyway, if a true villain does exist in this film, the Duke is really the only one that comes to mind. But who knows? We could get a man vs self based plot.

Tiatulip44

I’m thinking the duke, i wouldn’t be surprised because what real relation dose he have to the story otherwise? And Elsa is more of an anti-Hero to me, or plain miss understood. I would be rather surprised if it was Hans or Kristoff they don’t cross me as bad guys. I don’t really think its Olaf, i mean how could that thing be evil, i don’t see it.

Ember Lily

My guess is The Duke and Hans
I hope I’m wrong though, I’ll mess up the Elsa x Hans ship

Not Without

There is ALWAYS a villain or a foil….even if Pixar says they don’t use them (and they do!)

Brianna

You could definitely argue that in Pixar’s Brave there is no “true” villain. You could say Mor’du…but I mean…It’s more about Merida vs herself/her mother.

Juan Nunez

it has been released who the villain is, along with a lot of major spoilers, i won’t say them here for people that would like to be surprised and i would recommend not seeing them but if you really want to know, go to “elsa from frozen”‘s facebook page.

Brandon Kelly

I think it is the Duke and Hans. They probably work together. Besides, it could go along with the way Disney promoting this movie. 2 new Disney princesses, well maybe 2 new villains. Oh and there is NO way Kristoff is the villain. He looks way too nice of a character to be one. Oaken looks like a small supporting character so probably not him. And as we have discussed for a while, Elsa is like the beast sort of because she will be viewed as bad but isn’t. If that has changed then yes Elsa is the bad guy.

Aveeva

It’s Hans, he was jealous about being 13th in line for the throne so he tried to marry into the Arendelle kingdom so he would become king, he tries to marry Anna but Elsa was in the way so he wanted to kill her.